VOD Favorites - Friday the 13th Edition!

With the launch of brand-new TLAgay.com this past summer, the Gay Cinema Video On Demand experience we have been offering for a long, long time was upgraded and improved. We have expanded (and continue to expand) our selection of new and old gay-themed movies available for your viewing pleasure.

 

Since today is Friday the 13th (in October!), we thought it would only be appropriate to spotlight some hot horror picks! Here’s TEN of our current favorites, from various years, that you may have missed – ALL available to watch INSTANTLY! Many of these also appear in our on-going Halloween Highlights series.

 

 

Bite Marks

2011, United States

Director: Mark Bessenger

Hunky truck driver Brewster (Benjamin Lutz) takes over his missing brother’s delivery of coffins. On the way to his funeral home destination, he picks up some hitchhikers: the cute and wise-cracking Cary (Windham Beacham) and his smitten but tense boyfriend Vogel (David Alanson). The couple’s relationship is on the rocks (though that doesn’t stop them from some hot-and-noisy gas station toilet sex, which ignites the repressed homo in the voyeuristic Brewster). With dicks firmly back in pants, trouble descends on the threesome when a faulty GPS leads them into a deserted junkyard – where the truck promptly breaks down. Normally, this would not be a terrible situation. But this night is far from normal – as an assortment of blood-thirty zombies begin to attack! Now, the mismatched trio must fend off the marauding monsters and try to survive until dawn. With plenty of witty asides, sexy encounters and flesh-tearing scenes, this low budget gem delivers the gory goods! There’s also a fun little cameo from Stephen Geoffreys – the once nerdy-cute ’80s teen star (best known as Evil Ed from Fright Night), turned ’90s gay porn star (look up “Sam Ritter” sometime).

 

 

Black Briefs

2012, United States

Directors: Christopher Banks, Camille Carida, Jim Hansen, Hong Khaou, Jack Plotnick, Greg Ivan Smith & Lalo Vasquez

Curated by prolific writer/director Rob Williams (Make the Yuletide Gay, Shared Rooms) for his distribution label Guest House Films, Black Briefs features six award-winning short films with pretty dark, horror or horror-adjacent stories and themes. When it comes to short film compilations, there is always something to recommend. If you don’t like the first one, chances are good there is a short just around the corner that you’re going to appreciate more. In Black Briefs, we really like Hong Khaou‘s steamy Spring, about a young man meets up with a stranger for a little exploratory sadomasochistic sex; and Jack Plotnick‘s Video Night, in which a group of filmmaker buddies discover something unexpected in their raw footage. Our favorite, though, is Greg Ivan Smith‘s Remission. A man, all alone in a secluded cabin awaiting the results of a serious medical test, is haunted by a terrifying presence. It’s genuinely chilling and it’s one of those rare movies that can create dread and unease even in its scenes set during the daytime.

 

 

Drink Me

2015, Great Britain

Director: Daniel Mansfield

James and Andy (Emmett Friel and Darren Munn), a sexy gay couple, seem to have everything they ever dreamed of… but things are about to change. Andy loses his job and they take in a handsome stranger named Sebastian (Chris Ellis-Stanton). Nightmares come to life as Andy realizes that Sebastian is hiding a dark secret. Could Sebastian be the killer stalking the streets of their neighborhood? Yes. Yes he could. And… also… (spoiler alert)… he’s a vampire. While it’s maybe not to most skillfully directed (or acted) movie in the bunch, Drink Me has other… hmmm, let’s call them charms… to recommend it. The three British leads, Emmett Friel, Darren Munn and Chris Ellis Stanton, are all very easy on the eyes and this movie is absolutely packed with graphic male nudity and explicit gay sex scenes. It’s sensual and erotic above all else (for better or worse).

 

 

Fraternity Massacre at Hell Island

2007, United States

Director: Mark Goshorn Jones

What starts out as a fun and adventurous fraternity pledge night turns nightmarish when a killer clown terrorizes the brothers and pledges of Zeta Alpha Rho, killing them off one-by-one! Locked down on a haunted gloomy island with no escape route, the ZAP pledges mysteriously disappear as the maniacal clown reaps personal revenge on the unsuspecting frat boys. Homophobia abounds as frat pledge Jack Jones (Tyler Farrell) must quickly formulate a plan to stop the devious clown, save his fraternity brothers… and find the courage to come out of the closet before the sun rises on this doomed “Hell Island.” There have been countless “Sorority Massacre” movies since the late ’70s/early ’80s. It’s about time that frat boys got in on the gory action. Fraternity Massacre at Hell Island is an intentionally campy, straight-to-video lark with little in the way of actual scares, but it’s pretty hard to resist the corny charms of horror flick about scorching hot closet-cases failing to keep their simmering homoerotic urges a secret. You’ll find plenty of hot, college-boy flesh on display before it’s sliced and diced.

 

 

I Was a Teenage Werebear

2011, United States

Director: Tim Sullivan

Sean Paul Lockhart stars as Ricky – a cute, Letterman jacket-wearing 1950s schoolboy who isn’t quite content getting into beach-side heavy petting with “girlfriend” Peggy Lou (scene-stealer Gabby West). He secretly has his eyes on Talon (Anton Troy), the school’s greaser bad-boy! Little does Ricky know that Talon and his fellow leather buddies hide a secret of their own: they are werebears! They may look like cute teen boys, but they can turn into bulky, hairy, bearded beasts in the blink of an eye. With gorgeous twink flesh on display, non-stop homoerotic action, hysterically funny supporting performances from Insidious series star Lin Shaye (as a gay-friendly clairvoyant) and writer/director Tim Sullivan himself (as a randy coach with a thing for his budding young charges) and numerous over-the-top musical numbers, I Was a Teenage Werebear is a delightfully campy must-see. A short film, it runs roughly 30 minutes, but the DVD is packed with rare, completely exclusive special features – including promo spots, trailers, deleted scenes, music videos, behind-the-scenes docs and more!

 

 

Into the Lion’s Den

2011, United States

Director: Dan Lantz

Lust can be deadly. Bored with the West Hollywood gay scene, best friends Michael, Johnny and Ted have embarked on a cross-country road trip from Los Angeles to New York City. Though their friendship hits a few speed bumps along the way, the trio decides to have one final hurrah during their last night on the road. That’s when fate brings them to “The Lion’s Den”, a secluded backwoods bar where not everything is as it seems. As the three out-of-towners toast the end of their journey, someone at the bar is watching them and setting a deadly trap. Now, as closing time draws near, a night of unspeakable horrors begins. Jesse Archer (Violet Tendencies, Going Down in La-La Land, Slutty Summer) and Ronnie Kroell (Saltwater, Eating Out: Drama Camp, Bravo’s “Make Me a Super Model”) headline this bold, uncompromising thriller that plunges into the depths of human depravity. With an unpredictable plotline and raw performances, Into the Lion’s Den is a twisted nightmare that viewers won’t soon forget.

 

 

Kissing Darkness

2014, United States

Director: James Townsend

TLA fan favorite Sean Paul Lockhart (known to porn aficionados as the legendary Brent Corrigan) stars alongside a bunch of similarly stunningly hot young dudes! Kissing Darkness follows a group of college boys who, bored with the everyday “gay life” of LA, decide to skip pride weekend. Instead, they gear up for a camping trip in the woods. Sounds similar to Into the Lion’s Den, right? Maybe we should all just commit to staying in the city. Quickly into their trip, the boys venture into a game that ultimately unleashes the vengeful spirit of a local legend known as “Malice Valeria.” Overcome by her deadly plan of tainted love and her thirst to take back what was lost long ago, the boys must now band together before they fall victim to the poisons of a broken heart. Directed by James Townsend (Sideline Secrets, Unsolved Suburbia), this unbelievably sexy new vampire flick with softcore erotic elements doesn’t skimp on the blood or the beautiful, scantily clad young beefcake.

 

 

Seeing Heaven

2010, Great Britain

Director: Ian Powell

Belying its low budget, first-time film director Ian Powell created a moody, at times creepy, very sexy and intensely atmospheric thriller about a young male prostitute haunted by nightmares which may very well come true. When you are beautiful, someone is always trying to use you or do you harm. Such is the belief of Paul, a young escort who is desired by everyone. Paul has no problem selling his body to the highest bidder, as long as they also take his other unusual gift – that is, when having sex, Paul has visions of his long-lost twin brother, visions that are eerily transferred to the clients. When not tricking, the unhappy Paul searches for his brother who was separated from him when he was a young child. Through a series of chance encounters Paul meets Baxter, a porn director wanting to break into cross-over films. Since Paul thinks his brother may be working in the gay porn industry, he agrees to do act if Baxter in turn helps him find his brother. But his entry into this world becomes more and more intense and potentially dangerous as sexual excesses, nightmarish visions and the possible redemptive powers of love overwhelm him. Seeing Heaven is a captivating, low-budget commentary on the British escort/porn industry as well as a 21st century variation of Dorian Gray.

 

 

Socket

2007, United States

Director: Sean Abley

Told with panache, sex and nudity, this fiery hot erotic thriller tells the story of two men who get off on electric current and each other. An exceptional sci-fi fantasy, a pair of gay lovers literally gets a jolt as they plug in for pleasure in writer/director Sean Abley‘s Socket. After being struck by lightning, Dr. Bill Matthews (Derek Long) receives extra special care from a mysterious, sexy hospital intern named Craig (Matthew Montgomery). Having survived the same natural accident, Craig introduces his new recruit to an underground group that uses electricity to reach ecstasy. Soon the two develop an insatiable appetite for wall sockets and each other… but it’s not enough for Bill. Using his gifted talents as a surgeon, this doctor will stop at nothing to find the ultimate charge! With ample male flesh on display, lively realistic writing and crisp direction, Socket aims to light up your television screen (or computer or tablet… whatever). This is one queer horror tale unlike any we have really seen before. You’ll also be happy to know that we only distribute the original, uncut version with plenty of full-frontal nudity and hot cinematic homoeroticism. Let the sparks fly!

 

 

Vampire Boys

2011, United States

Director: Charlie Vaughn

Time is running out for Jasin (Jason Lockhart) and his vampire brood. In order for them to survive, Jasin needs to find a mortal whom he can to turn into a vampire and spend eternity with. Luckily, Los Angeles provides plenty of young candidates. The brood has their eyes set on Tara (Zasu), a young, gorgeous blonde college student. Tara is open to the idea of becoming a vampire, but someone else enters the picture to disrupt the brood’s plans. Caleb (Christian Ferrer) is a fresh faced college student, new to Los Angeles, who keeps dreaming of a mysterious stranger. At school, Caleb meets the stranger, Jasin, and the two share is an instant connection. The brood, however is short on time. Jasin needs to convince his new crush Caleb that eternity as a vampire can be a very sweet life. Vampire Boys is the pretty much that gay man’s answer to The Twilight Saga. Released at the height of that infamous franchise’s popularity, this film aims to satisfy fans of angsty, gothic young adult romances who prefer boys who like boys. It’s not the most capably made flick, but hey, neither are the Twilight movies!